First 2020 Democratic Presidential debates set for June 26 – 27

indica News Bureau-

 

The 20 candidates were randomly divided into two groups of ten for the debates to assure that none of the candidates are being favored by the DNC. That drawing divided the top five candidates who have broken out from the group on one night stacked with former Vice President Joe Biden, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Kamala Harris of California participating on June 27.

 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts is the only contender among the top five to appear on June 26. Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and former Congressman Beto O’Rourke of Texas have been behind the other top candidates by a sizeable margin in latest polls, according to POLITICO.

 

The full list of candidates participating released by the DNC on Twitter on Thursday includes Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Former Maryland Rep. John Delaney. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, Washington state Gov. Jay Inslee, Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, California Rep. Eric Swalwell, spiritual guru Marianne Williamson, and Entrepreneur Andrew Yang.

 

Yang and Williamson ––the nontraditional candidates in the debate –– will also appear on June 27, next to many of the top-polling candidates, the POLITICO report said.

 

The candidates have begun to project a sense of whom they will be targeting. Hickenlooper has undercut Sanders’ Democratic Socialist arguments in a speech last week. This ultimately led to a Twitter exchange between the two campaigns. The two candidates will see each other on stage on June 27.

 

The criteria for qualifying included fulfilling either of the following––bringing on board 65,000 donors to the campaign with at least 200 donors from 20 different states or receiving 1 percent support in three legitimate polls.

 

Most of the qualifying high-profile candidates fulfilled both the criteria. Eight candidates of the twenty polled above the 2 percent threshold including Biden, Buttigieg, Booker, Harris, O’Rourke, Klobuchar, Sanders and Warren.

 

In case more than 20 candidates had qualified for the debate, the Democratic National Committee said it would have selected candidates with “a methodology that gives primacy to candidates meeting both thresholds, followed by the highest polling average, followed by the most unique donors.” The criteria were established by the DNC along with their media partners.

 

The candidates who didn’t qualify for the two-night debates are Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, former Sen. Mike Gravel, Mayor Wayne Messam and Rep. Seth Moulton, according to POLITICO.

 

Bullock has voiced is dissatisfaction with the way the debate participants were selected, according to the New York Times

 

The debates, hosted by NBC News, MSNBC and Telemundo, will be held at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami and will be broadcast live between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. According to POLITICO, the decision to air the debate during those particular hours was to “maximize viewership.”

 

The second round of debates in the fall will see the candidates with a tougher challenge. They will either need 130,000 donors with 400 donors in 20 states or get 2 percent in four qualified polls.

 

According to Ballotpedia, 254 Democrat candidate petitions have been filed with the Federal Election Commission, some of them with fictitious names., and the names of 95 Republican candidates have been filed with the FEC as of June 10. In addition, 31 Libertarian candidates and 14 Green Party candidates have filed petitions,

 

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